Mail-box.



Patented Sept. 3, |901. W. H. WALKER MAIL B0 X.

(Application Bled June 18, 1901.)

(No Model.)

/N VEN mf? A Noms/E ys ,Il l) m. a W w UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCEaWILLIAM I-I. VALKER, OF DEGRAFF, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF 'lWO-lIFrIHS TOSOLOMON E. LOFFER AND WILLIAM E. HARRIS, OF SAME PLACE.

BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No. 682,005, dated September3, 1901.

Application filed June 18, 1901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM H.WALKER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Degraff, in the county of Logan and State of Ohio, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Boxes, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the type of mailboxes employed for collectionand distribution of mail by carriers, and has for its object to providea novel simple mail-box which is well adapted for collection anddistribution of mail in rural districts, the device being secure, easyto operate, and provided with means for indicating to a person at somedistance if there is mail in the box or not.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination ofparts, as is hereinafter described, and defined in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part ofthis specication, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a perspective view of the improved mail-box. Fig. 2 is anenlarged sectional side view of the same substantially on the line 2 2in Fig; l. Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view substantially on theline 3 3 in Fig. 2, and Fig. iis a sectional plan view substantially onthe line 4 4 in Fig. 2.

While the improved mail-box is available for service in towns as well asin suburban districts, it is preferably employed as means for collectionand distribution of mail by the carriers who traverse routes in thecountry, and as country residences are frequently at some distance fromthe public road the improved mail-box hereinafter described is veryadvantageous in that it is not only secure against depredators and theelements, but also from the fact that it will in a very conspicuousmanner positively indicate if mailmatter has been deposited in the boxfor delivery by the carriers or if mail-matter has been placed thereinby residents in the locality to be taken up by the carrier to be mailed.

In the drawings, 5 indicates a preferably metalpost ofanyavailableheight,tobeerected and fixed in the ground at a suitablepoint for Serial No. 65,038. (No model.)

easy access by the mail-depositor, who may be the carrier or may bethose who desire to post mail-matter. Upon the upper portion of the post5 the box 6 is pivoted, so as to be rotatable thereon. As shown, the box6 consists of a preferably elongated rectangular receptacle having aclosure 6a at one end, which may be water-tight, the opposite end 6bbeing open. The pivot-bolt 7, that passes through the post 5 and oneside wall of the box 6, may be provided with a screw-nut?a on the endthat projects inside of the box 6, and the head of the bolt may berounded, so as to prevent easy removal of the bolt and purloining of thebox and its contents. In some cases it may be preferred to rivet thepivot-bolt at its ends.

Preferably to aord a substantial connection between the post 5 and box 6two trunnion-plates 8 8 in dished form are provided and are adapted tofit one Within the circular border-flange of the other, and saidtrunnionplates are centrally aperrured for the reception of thepivot-bolt 7, the plates 8 8a being respectively affixed upon adjacentsides of the post 5 and box 6, so that these mating trunnion-plates willsupport the box and its contents and afford a rotatable bearing ofsuicient area for the box on the post, so as to prevent undue wear ofthe Working parts, and consequent wabbling of lthe box on its support.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the trunnionplate Sa has two elongated armsd, extended oppositely in the'same vertical plane, andjtwo shorter armsd2, projected oppositely and hori- Zontally. The arms d are disposedlongitudinally of the box 6, on the front wall thereof, and these arms,as well as the arms d2, are secured upon said wall by screws or othermeans. Upon the side of the arms d, adjacent to the trunnibon-plate 8and near the ends thereof, two flanges d are formed, which projectforwardly at an equal distance from the pivot-bolt 7, and in rthe samevertical plane with the axis of the pivot-bolt a single notch cl3 isformed in each of said flanges, and the edges of the anges arerespectively sloped away from the notches.

An arched hood 9, preferably formed of IOO metal, is secured upon thetop of the post 5 and projects therefrom directly above the box 6, and,as shown, each end of the box is cut to conform to an arc of a circlehaving the axis of the pivot-bolt 7 as a center, so that the open orclosed end of the mail-box may by a halfrotation of the same be locatedbeneath and close to the hood 9, and for the protection of the open endof the box said hood should extend a proper distance beyond the sidewalls of the box.

Upon the side of the post 5 farthest from the box 6 a hasp-plate 10 ishinged to hang pendent, said hasp-plate having a lockingtoe a projectedfrom one side, which may pass through a slot a', formed in the post, andalso through the lock-case ll, that is bedded in the inner wall of saidpost, as shown in Fig. 2. A plate-spring lOa may be provided to enforcethe return of the hasp l0 into locking position if said hasp is swungoutward. The hasp l0 is preferably provided with a iiapplate 10b, hingedupon its lower end, and, as shown, the keyhole a2 of the lock is sopositioned as to permit the Hap-plate to serve as a cover for thekeyhole when said flap-plate is pendent. rThe lock is provided with aslide-bolt lla, which is reciprocated within the case 1l by means of thekey 1lb, of suitable form, and said lock may have other dctails ofconstruction (not shown) which may be found essential to render itsecure against easy picking. The toe a, is notched upon its lower edge,and the bolt 1ln of the lock when operated by the key 1lb may be slidthrough the notch c, which will hold said toe from outward movement, asis clearly shown in Fig. 2, an opposite sliding of the bolt, which willtake it out of the notch c, serving to release the hasp-plate and toe inan obvious manner. Vhen the box 6 is rocked so as to locate either itsclosed or open end beneath the hood 9, the flange d on an arm d of thetrunnion-plate 8, which is uppermost, will have the notch d3 thereinpositioned directly opposite the slot ct, so that if the toe ais enteredfully within the slot its inner end will pass into the notch cl3, andthus adapt the toe of the hasp to hold the box 6 from rotatablemovement, which may be further secured by movement of the slide-bolt11a, as before explained. A

A target or signal l2 in the shape of a plate or any other preferredform is mounted upon a standard l2, which passes loosely through thearched hood 9 and at the lower end is pivoted in or on the outer sidewall of the mail-box 6, as shown at ein Figs. 2 and 3. It will be seenthat the point of pivotal engagement of the standard l2a with the sidewall of the mail-box 6 is some distance above the pivot-bolt 7 when theopen end of said mail-box is uppermost, and therefore located beneathand close to the hood 9, which adj ustment of the box will project thetarget l2 some distance above the hood, and it will therefore berendered plainly visible at some distance if the target is of propersize and color.

The occupants of the premises to which the mail-box belongs have a keythat will release the Inail-box and permit it to be turned on its pivot,and the mail-carrier has alike key. In use the carrier of mail, in casethere is no mail to take up, should lind the mail-Box 6 inverted, sothat its open end will be lowermost. This disposal of the empty box willdraw the standard l2LL downward, so that its pivot connection e will bebelow the pivotbolt 7 and the target 12 will be correspondingly lowered,showing plainly that the box is empty. Upon release of the box with anappropriate key the mailman, before the box is swung into an uprightposition, deposits within the box the mail-matter he may have for it,and then he completes the vertical adjustment of the box, nishing theoperation by locking the box in place and then removing his key. Fromthe display of the target 12 that results from the half-revolution ofthe box 6, as before described, it will be manifest to the personsreceiving mail from the box that mail-matter is in the box, from whichit may be removed by an authorized party.

The mail-matter that is to be sent to a general mailing-station shouldbe placed in the box 6 and the latterbe secured, as before explained, ata time previous to the regular visit or visits of the mailman, who canthen take up the deposited mail-matter if such is his duty, or a regularmail-collector who does not distribute mail-matter may attend to thecollection of mail from boxes along a route, and it will be apparentthat the work of distributing and collecting Inail-matter will be safelyconducted in an expeditious manner if theimproved mail-boxis generallyadopted.

Having thus described Iny invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentl. The combination with a post or the like, and a hoodprojected therefrom, of a mailbox closed at one end, and pivoted nearits longitudinal center upon the post so that either end of said box maybe located close beneath the hood by turning movement of the box, and alock on the post adapted to secure either end of the box uppermost.

2. The combination with an upright post, and a laterally-projected hoodthereon, of a mail-box open at one end, a pivot device on the post andbox which adapts said box for free rotatable movement so as to locatethe open end of the box close beneath the hood or removed therefrom, ahinged hasp on the post, having a toc which passes through an opening inthe post, a locking device adapted to hold the hasp folded and the toethereon inserted in the opening, and a keeper device on the box engagedby the toe when the hasp is folded.

3. The combination with a post or the like, an arched hood extendedlaterally from the IOO IIO

post, and a mail-box open at one end and of the box will automaticallyset the signal pivoted near its longitudinal center upon the so as toelevate or depress it. post, so as to permit the open end of the box Intestimony whereof I have signed my to be located close beneath the hoodby turnname to this specification in the presence of 5 ing movement ofsaid box, of a target device, two subscribing Witnesses.

comprising a signal-plate on one end of a Y v standard, that looselyengages within an ori- WILLIAM H WALKER' ce in the hood, and at theopposite end Witnesses: thereof is bent to form a pintle, that is rook-WILLIAM J. ROGERS,

1o ably held on the box, whereby the movement FINT L. KEATING.

